Victor Bernardo, the new Brazilian guard

Long gone are the days when it was thought Brazilians #surfers couldn't charge big #barrels. And soon being a #blacksurfer charging on the #WSL CT will stop being a novelty.

Enter @victorbernard0, freshly turned 20, who made an impressive final finish at the #Pipemasters Invitational in December and jumped from 112th to 39th in the #QS ranking.

Hailing from #Guarujá, near #São Paulo, Victor has grown to surf all kinds of conditions including barrel #waves, both in #Maresias and in his 'secret spot which can actually get big and scary'. Even though Victor has been seen pulling massive #airs, ('the waves we have in Brazil are really good to practice that and it gets pretty windy too'), he is currently 'working on [his] rail game' in a bid to realize his life ambition of 'making the cut to the CT' in 2017.

With Brazilian #surf seeing unprecedented growth rates earmarked to save the #surfindustry as a whole, and over 53% of the nation's population self-identifying as 'black or brown', we can expect the #brazilianstorm to continue spearheading #diversity, disrupt the #whitewash and ultimately, create new surf icons. Keep an eye on Victor, he might well be one of them! 📷: @_laurence_b #freesurfspirit

Victor in a Pipeline barrel